Athens cancels annual Uptown Halloween party because of COVID-19 pandemic

Athens has canceled its famous Halloween party this year due to the coronavirus pandemic. 

The city decided to cancel what would've been the 47th annual Halloween party in Uptown Athens, originally scheduled for Oct. 31, because of the ongoing pandemic and the state's recommendations for celebrating Halloween, Athens Police Chief and Interim Service Safety Director Tom Pyle said in an email Wednesday.

Pyle said residents are encouraged to celebrate Halloween per the state's recommended guidelines.

The annual Halloween block party usually beckons tens of thousands of costumed attendees to the bricks of Court Street. What started in 1974 as a takeover of Uptown Athens by raucous Ohio University students has become a tradition the city finally embraced in recent years.

OU junior Paige Smallridge, 20, of Zanesville, said she'll miss the chance to hit the streets and see everyone in their costumes.

"That's part of OU's tradition, and it just sucks," Smallridge, a biological science major, said of the cancellation of this year's festivities. 

Athens sanctioned the event over the years by closing sections of Court Street to vehicle traffic, and last year the city hired an organizer and made big plans to partner with local businesses to sponsor the event. A Friday evening event was added to the weekend's festivities, and events on Saturday like a puppet parade, live music and arts vendors were planned for earlier in the day. 

And while the Halloween block party is infamously known for its rowdiness, crowd sizes and arrests have gone down in the last few years. In 2018, Athens police arrested 12 people and OU police arrested nine during the block party, a number that pales in comparison to the more than 100 partiers arrested in 2009.

Pyle said both Athens and OU police are actively enforcing orders put forth by the Ohio Department of Health about limiting gatherings and requiring face coverings throughout the city, both on and off campus.

Failure to abide by the restrictions could result in a second-degree misdemeanor, Pyle said. Nuisance party and noise violations will be enforced as usual.

Ohio University has implemented its own policies related to the pandemic that will also apply on Halloween weekend, Pyle said.

shendrix@dispatch.com

@sheridan120